


Love is (Unfortunately) Blind

by Potatoe_Knight



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, F/M, Fluff, Ladrien | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Some angst, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine's, Valentine's Day, adrienette - Freeform, challenge, mlvalentines2k20
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:20:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 16,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22480918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potatoe_Knight/pseuds/Potatoe_Knight
Summary: It’s just two weeks until Valentine’s day. And when Chat finds out that Ladybug still hasn’t confessed to her crush, he makes an offer.He’ll try to help her confess, but with one condition: if she doesn’t do it by Valentine’s day, or if sheunbelievablygets rejected, Ladybug has to agree to one date with him.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 192
Kudos: 358





	1. Candy | Bonbon

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the [Miraculous Valentine’s Event](https://wearemiraculous.tumblr.com/post/190082723093/miraculous-valentines-prompts). I, personally, have decided to try my best at making this an emotional rollercoaster of an interconnected story.  
> Notes to keep in mind for this fic in general: It’s a bit in the future, so they’re sixteen years old. I decided to line up the days of the prompts with the actual days of the calendar. There is a patrol system where they patrol together every other night and alternate solo patrols on the nights in between. I will signify which patrol it is by saying the ship name including at least one of them as a superhero before each chapter. But don’t worry: there will also be plenty of Adrienette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LadyNoir

“For you, milady.”

Chat Noir held out the heart-shaped box of chocolates towards Ladybug at the end of their patrol.

He had waited so long for it to be February: a month full of love, an excuse to be romantic- not that he needed one.

And how lucky that there was joint patrol on the first day of February, so that he could start to woo his Lady from the start.

Ladybug’s lips tugged downward at the presentation. “You couldn’t wait two weeks, kitty?”

“No, I couldn't. I love you _every_ day, not just on the designated 'romantic' ones.” She rolled her eyes, but that would never dissuade Chat’s feelings. “Besides, someone always gets their heart broken that day, and if the past three years serve as evidence, Hawk Moth will make an akuma out of it. That doesn’t leave much time for confessions.”

She turned away from him, looking out over the city. “And my answer hasn’t changed. Maybe if I could give up on that boy, I could give you a chance.”

It was only a _maybe,_ but still, it sounded hopeful. A wry grin crept up on his face. “...And what could make you give up on him?”

Ladybug turned her head and gave him a flat look. “Chat…”

He shrugged. “C’mon. I’m curious. And it’s completely theoretical, anyhow.”

She pouted, but answered the question anyways. “Well… I, well, I don’t know that I ever _will_ get over him, because he’s always so sweet and kind and caring… But, if I _were,_ I know that I would at least need to confess my feelings.”

Chat’s eyebrows shot up. “Seriously?”

“What?” she asked defensively.

“At least it makes sense why he’s not your boyfriend yet. Because I can’t imagine anyone turning _you_ down, milady.”

Ladybug gave him a pointed stare. “So you’re saying that, if we _somehow_ improbably know each other as civilians, and I- equally unlikely- fell for your civilian self, and confessed, you wouldn’t turn down civilian-me for Ladybug-me?”

That took him off-guard. But like she said herself- it completely ridiculous and unlikely. And anyone who “loved” Adrien Agreste probably wouldn’t fall for the same traits she loved about _her_ crush.

So, cheekily, he leaned in and said, “I would know if it were _you._ You’re still Ladybug.”

She shrugged. “But I’m not as confident when I’m not transformed. Otherwise I could have confessed to him already.”

An idea struck Chat. “Then confess to him.”

“Pfft. _Yeah_ , right.” She sighed. “I can’t help but catastrophize about something going wrong whenever I’m even _near_ him. Forget about confessing to him.”

He shrugged. “If you _can’t_ confess to him, then I want a chance to convince you.”

Ladybug narrowed her eyes. “What are you getting at, Chat?”

“Valentine’s Day _is_ coming up. There’s no better time to confess.”

She grimaced. “Yeah, that didn’t go so well the last three years.”

That sounded like an interesting story. But Chat couldn’t get distracted.

“Oh? Do tell.”

So much for not getting distracted.

Ladybug took a deep breath. “Without going into any personal details, I wrote a Valentine for him, and it wasn’t until it was in the mailbox that I realized I forgot to sign it. Don’t forget the double date that he failed to realize was a date at _all,_ even when our friends who were an _actual_ couple ditched us. And finally, last year, I thought he would get it when I gave him a key and a lock for the Pont des Artes. Apparently, I underestimated his obliviousness, because he thought it was just a nice present despite being pink with a heart on it.”

Chat suppressed laughter. Who couldn’t see that she was in love, especially if she _had_ tried other times than Valentine’s. “Sounds like you need help. Luckily, you have a superhero partner who happens to be an expert on that.”

Okay, at least he was able to get back on track.

But Ladybug didn’t seem convinced. “Unless you’ve confessed to anyone else, it also appears that you have an even better track record of getting rejected.”

“True,” Chat conceded. “But that’s further than you’ve gotten with your boy.”

“Fine. But are you really just going to do this out of the goodness of your heart?”

He put a hand over his heart, gasping and faking horror. “Ladybug! Do you doubt _me,_ your very own partner?” The look she gave him told him that she was _not_ in the mood for all his joking about this. “Fine. I will admit that I hope you’ll be rejected, but there’s also the _way_ my lessons will be taught.”

“Let me guess: by example.”

Maybe Chat was getting a _tad_ too predictable with his love for Ladybug. But he didn’t deny it. “With a time limit. You _have_ to confess to him by Valentine’s day. If not, or if he is stupid and rejects you, you have to let me take you out on _one_ date afterwards. We can decide the details when it happens.”

 _“Chat,”_ Ladybug warned.

He held up a finger. _“One_ date. Nothing more, unless you ask for it. That’s all I want.”

Ladybug huffed. “Fine. But what do _I_ get if I confess and he accepts?”

“You’ve got your man. In fact, you have one either way, if you want.”

She ignored the additional comment. “I accept. How should I start?”

“You’ve got to soften him up. Now,” Chat held up the nearly-forgotten box of chocolates. “Have you ever heard of the expression ‘the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach?’”

* * *

Marinette wasn’t sure what possessed her to stay up that night to make chocolates.

Actually… she knew _exactly_ what possessed her to stay up to make chocolates.

She could never step down from a challenge. And, despite what she said to Chat, there were a couple of times that she almost wished she weren’t so hopelessly in love with Adrien so that she could give him a chance. If he could nearly convince her when she was that committed to someone else emotionally, and considering that it didn’t seem like Adrien was that deeply in love with anyone, maybe she could succeed.

But she wasn’t going to take any chances. She’d take Chat’s advice (and eat his chocolate, because did she mention it was _chocolate?)_ , but she could put her own twist on it. Up the game.

So that, _hopefully,_ Adrien would fall for her. Well, ideally, he was already head-over-heels for her but just didn’t realize it yet, but would understand once she confessed to him and then they could become a couple.

But she would be fine if he fell hopelessly in love with her at a later date. As long as he reached that point eventually.

“Marinette…” Tikki drew her holder’s attention. “It’s getting late. You should go to bed.”

Marinette glanced at the clock. It _was_ almost midnight. “I just need to finish letting the chocolates cool for Adrien,” she said. “Then I’ll put them in a box and give them to him on Monday. Even though they’ll be a day old then.”

As soon as she said that last sentence, Marinette knew she shouldn’t have said it. But it was too late. Her mind had already gone down the rabbit hole of self doubt. “They’ll be a whole day old! Tikki, what if he eats them and decides they’re not fresh enough- because surely he’ll only want the best of the best- and decides to reject me because of it? Then he’ll want to stop being my friend and never fall in love with me and we’ll never get married and have three kids and a hamster named-”

 _“Marinette!”_ Tikki said aggressively enough to make Marinette think it must’ve been the tenth time she said it. Knowing how she got over these things, it very well might have been.

The kwami sighed, satisfied that she had stopped Marinette from catastrophizing- for the moment. “The chocolates will be fine. He loves any sweet thing he can get his hands on. Adrien won’t reject you, and he certainly won’t stop being friends with you over chocolates.”

“But-”

“And losing sleep worrying about it won’t do anyone any good,” Tikki interrupted again. “Now, it looks like the chocolates are cool enough, so arrange them in the box to give to Adrien on Monday and call it a night, okay?”

Marinette nodded dumbly, literally left speechless by the rant. Usually her kwami didn’t bother to _chastise_ her about anything relating to her civilian life, only what mattered as Ladybug. But she _was_ getting tired, and catastrophizing always took a lot out of her, so Marinette didn’t have the energy to argue.

She started to move to place the chocolates in the heart-shaped box she had gotten from Chat Noir (What? She had already eaten the chocolates, and why waste money buying a new one when she had a perfectly adequate one already?).

Tikki was right. Marinette shouldn’t worry about giving the chocolates to Adrien anymore tonight. After all, there would be plenty of time to do that _tomorrow._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. This was fun to plan out and I’m excited to be sharing it!


	2. Love | Amour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not a lot happens. Except mushy gushy love talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! I’m posting again today because I don’t like posting on Sundays… so I decided to give it to you a little earlier rather than a little later. The same thing goes for the 8th/9th.  
> I hope that you enjoy this _LOVEly_ chapter.
> 
> * * *
> 
> _Ladrien_

Adrien couldn’t express his relief upon slipping from the crowd into the car he regularly rode in.

As if modeling and more extracurriculars than he could bear wasn’t enough. His father also just  _ had _ to make him go to events like  _ this. _

Adrien wanted to see the good in his father, but the man was making it really, _ really _ hard.

Sure, he could see from a logical standpoint how it encouraged the fanbase, helping sales within the brand, blah, blah, blah… but, why did Gabriel subject his very own son to being the face of the company in the first place? He was  _ sixteen. _

Adrien leaned back, sighing. He wished he had  _ some _ way to escape this. Yes, there was some escape as Chat Noir and with his friends at school- since any novelty had long since worn off. But he wished he could just walk around and explore the streets of Paris without needing his bodyguard to hold off the crowd.

A thousand- probably more- fans. None of them really knowing  _ him. _ Only his friends, which included Ladybug, really knew who he was, loved him. For Ladybug, it might not be in the way he wanted, but she still  _ did _ love him, and she made sure that he knew it.

From his house- well,  _ mansion- _ he felt the most care from the Gorilla, some from Nathalie, and… he often felt that his father could care less whether he actually lived there or not as long as his company did just as well.

That was disheartening.

…And he was getting like this again. Feeling unloved. Adrien still  _ knew  _ all the people who actually loved him, but it never felt like it in the moment. It was one thing to know something, and altogether another to feel it, especially since he was usually separated from that love at the time.

But dealing with those  _ fanatics  _ usually did this to him. Feeling valued only for his face. Like a robot could take his place and no one would be the wiser.

They pulled up in front of the house that felt less and less like a home everyday since his mother died and Adrien went inside.

Once in the safety of his room, Plagg flew out.  _ “Finally.  _ I thought those girls would  _ never _ let you go. It was getting-” He cut off upon seeing Adrien’s face. “Oh, great. You’re in one of your  _ moods.” _

“Since when do you care?” Adrien grumbled.

“Since you don’t give me cheese when you’re like this,” Plagg retorted. 

The boy flopped on his bed. “Even  _ you _ don’t really care about me.”

“Of course I do. You give me Camembert. Not every holder does that for me.”

Considering this was coming from Plagg, it was very meaningful. “Thanks, Plagg.”

The kwami flew up to him. “I’m not as good at advice as Tikki, but she’d probably say something disgustingly inspiring like, chin up. Or tell you to work on your plans to woo Ladybug or something.”

Adrien sat up. “That’s not a bad idea, Plagg. I can get some flowers for our patrol tomorrow… maybe do something with this heart confetti I saw at a store on Wednesday… though I better get started on the flowers. I wonder if I should do roses again, or…”

Plagg stopped him as he started heading to his desk. “Great. You’re happy again, looking forward to seeing Ladybug or whatever. Now, you should give me extra-gooey Camembert for helping you.”

Adrien sighed, but it didn’t hurt to let Plagg have his cheese. After feeding the kwami, he started heading over to his desk, but not before seeing Ladybug going by his window. It was her night for patrol, and he sighed smiling as he watched her go by.

“I love you, and I hope one day soon, you’ll love me the same way I love you.”

“Stop being the wrong kind of cheesy!” Plagg shouted.

Adrien spared his kwami a glance before heading to his desk to pick out and order a bouquet for tomorrow. Even  _ Plagg  _ couldn’t get Adrien’s spirits down now.

* * *

Marinette couldn’t do it. Nope. She just  _ couldn’t. _

“Nope. Nope.  _ Nope.” _ She shoved the box back into the fridge.

Tikki gave a dramatic sigh.  _ “Why _ can’t you give them to Adrien?”

Marinette glanced nervously back at the kwami. “Because he might  _ reject _ me!”

Tikki raised an eyebrow- or at least made an expression that would have resulted in that if she  _ had _ eyebrows. “I seriously disbelieve he would deny  _ any  _ sweets.”

“But…”

“Why did you make them?” Tikki interrupted.

Marinette crossed her arms and pouted. “Because Chat challenged me to.”

The kwami sighed. “He challenged you to do something like this because…”

“I… haven’t confessed to Adrien.”

“And…?

“...I love him,” Marinette finished. “What are you trying to say, Tikki?”

Tikki flew up and bopped the girl on the head, though with her small size she could barely feel it. “I’m trying to get  _ you _ to realize what! Think! Since you love Adrien, what do  _ you _ want?”

“To confess my feelings and hope that he returns mine,” Marinette sighed. “But, more than that… I want him to just be happy.”

“And what would giving him the chocolates do?” Tikki prompted yet again.

“Make him happy!” Marinette perked up. Then her face fell. “But what if I give them to him and he doesn’t return my feelings and I’ll be heartbroken and he’ll feel guilty that he did that to me because we’re  _ ‘good friends’ _ and he  _ won’t  _ be happy and then it will be pointless because we both got hurt and-”

“Marinette!” Tikki shouted. “Who said you had to do it  _ in person?” _

Marinette  _ finally _ got what her kwami had been trying to tell her all along. She blinked. “Tikki, have I ever told you that you’re a genius?”

“Not often enough,” Tikki grumbled.

Marinette ignored the comment and headed up to get ready for bed. She had to wake up early tomorrow morning, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~ngh~  
> Tikki kind of annoyed me, but it was more because Marinette was stubborn about being scared. But I liked that bit of grumpy Tikki at the end. For some reason, I have a soft spot for that.  
> This was a minimal Ladrien chapter, though there will be chapters later on that are properly Ladrien. For the next two chapters, you’ll have to survive with MariChat, LadyNoir, and sprinkles of Adrienette.  
> I’m not sure how obvious what the plan to get Adrien the chocolates is, but I didn’t want to come right out and say it. Otherwise, you’ll just have to wait right along with Adrien to see what happens on Monday morning.


	3. Flowers | Fleur

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason this was strangely difficult to finish… probably something to do with the fact that I couldn’t stop thinking about what the next chapters are going to be.
> 
> * * *
> 
> _LadyNoir_

Adrien walked into the classroom, still mostly empty. That only made sense, since it was still twenty minutes before school actually started.

Sure, Adrien enjoyed talking to Nino, but he wasn’t here yet, and he didn’t mind taking advantage of the serenity of the classroom.

He breathed a sigh of relief, ready to sit down and relax in one of his few opportunities to do so, until he saw what was on his desk.

A red, heart-shaped box. Like the kind one would use for Valentine's chocolates.

Like the one he gave to Ladybug on Saturday. Not that it was a particularly unique box. It wasn’t  _ necessarily  _ the exact same box. There could be an entirely different explanation for the small indentations. Adrien wasn’t sure what besides Chat’s claws that could make them quite like  _ that _ , but it was severely implausible that it was the one he had given to Ladybug.

Still, who would have given it to him?

Adrien looked up and surveyed the classroom. Ivan and Mylène? No- they were too in love with each other. He supposed it could have been someone from another class, though most people who were admirers were actively seeking to gain his attention.

Then he spotted Marinette. True, she had her head in her arms and was snoozing, but it was also very surprising that she was at school this early at all. Could it be her? No. She had denied any sort of crush on him after trouble maker. That’s why she could never be anything more than a friend. It couldn’t be.

Adrien shook his head. Regardless of  _ who _ gave it to him, there still were chocolates, and meant for him. What his father didn’t know he ate didn’t hurt him.

He opened the box, and the first thing he noticed was a small card that was mostly blank except for something written in a strangely familiar script.

> _ \- Your Secret Admirer _

Adrien frowned. They sure were a secret, alright.

Then he saw the chocolates. He could tell they were homemade, but they were flower designs with exquisite detail. The petals were small in the middle, but they grew out, becoming larger, with each one the barest layer beneath the last. There were just enough imperfections to know that it had been done by someone out of the love of their heart, and not simply something store bought.

As sad as he was to stop appreciating the carefully crafted beauty of the design, he knew better than to waste its  _ true _ purpose- to be eaten and enjoyed. And once he did-

Adrien sighed in delight. Despite their appearance, they still had filling. And  _ secret admirer _ knew his favorite flavor- passion fruit, which was an oddly good mix with chocolate.

He’d save the rest for throughout the school day.

But he never thought he’d enjoy having someone other than Ladybug try to win his heart.

* * *

Flowers. Why  _ flowers? _ What was she supposed to do with  _ flowers? _

“Um… Chat,” Ladybug said. “As much as I can tell you want to woo me or whatever romantic notions you’ve got in your head, aren’t you supposed to be  _ coaching _ me as well, if only by example.”

Chat looked down at the bouquet of roses he was holding, then back up at her, grinning. “Sorry. I was hoping that showering you with attention would at least make your cheeks  _ rosy.” _

She groaned. “Would you like a girl to give a bouquet of roses to  _ you, _ Chat?”

He grinned. “I’d gladly accept anything from  _ you, _ milady.”

“Whatever,” Ladybug grumbled, yanking the roses from him. “I’ll figure out something to do with these. You’re an atrocious teacher.”

Chat shrugged. “Maybe I don’t particularly want to help you win.”

Ladybug sighed. “If  _ that’s _ how you’re going to act, I won’t let you have that date. You have to actually  _ help _ me.”

He took a step back, spreading his hands defensively. “Fine, fine. Um… with the roses, you can… uh…”

“You can’t think of anything either, can you?” It wasn’t a question. She could tell.

“True,” Chat admitted. “Well, no ideas short of you giving him a bouquet or showering him with the petals. But something tells me you wouldn’t want to do that.”

Ladybug latched onto the word  _ petals, _ an idea starting to formulate in her brain already. If she kept this up, she would have to regularly start going to bed at a decent time.

“No, but that  _ does _ give me an idea.” She beamed at him. “Thank you for your help, Chat. The challenge is still on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did my best to describe the chocolates as I imagined them. And I also believe that Marinette _would_ go into such detail.  
> Sorry, but I also have no clue how well passion fruit goes with chocolate. I don't think I've ever even _eaten_ passion fruit, but I do know that some fruits go well with chocolate, so I figured it might work. For all intents and purposes of the fic, let's pretend that _is_ the case.  
> Marinette will continue to give Adrien things in the same way she did this morning for the rest of the school week. I won't say why it stops after that, but if you look up the prompt list, you might be able to figure it out.
> 
> Next time: MariChat. Yay!  
>  ~~Sorry there's just some things about this chapter that I'm really excited about. Not that I know for sure, since I haven't actually written it yet. But I don't have any school this week, so I'll do my best to actually get ahead so I don't have to worry about it so much.~~


	4. Secret Admirer | Admirateur Secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had the WHOLE day yesterday to work on this chapter. And you want to know when I started it?  
> Nine. PM.  
>  ~~Who needs a healthy sleep schedule anyways?~~

Marinette must’ve been the only one to _not_ be surprised at the rose scattered across Adrien’s desk.

“What?” seemed to be more or less the consensus of the class.

So Marinette tried to act accordingly surprised.

Adrien held up his hands. “It’s probably just one of my fans, guys. Valentine’s day _is_ just ten days away.”

She didn’t know if anyone else noticed him hiding the card, but she _knew_ she was the only one who knew what was written on it- and not a little nervous about it.

> _Hope this makes your cheeks ROSY._
> 
> _\- Your Secret Admirer_

Sure, she inwardly cringed at borrowing Chat’s cheesy pun, but she had to test out what Adrien liked. And judging by the fact that Adrien really _did_ seem a little flushed, it seemed to have paid off. Maybe Chat really _did_ know what he was doing.

Everyone seemed to disperse then, Adrien gathering up the petals. She wondered what he would do with them. Personally, unless she _knew_ it was from him, she’d throw them away. But he decided to stuff it in his bag.

 _Why_ did he do that? _Why?_

Marinette frowned as she approached her own seat. She expected him to at best keep a few, but that was twenty-three rose’s worth of petals. Yeah, they smelled nice, but doing something like _that_ might make the bag have the aroma _permanently._

Marinette felt Alya nudge her in the ribs, and her attention returned to her own desk.

Oh, _right._

The twenty-fourth rose. It seemed like a waste to not keep at least _one_ of them intact. It would go well with the other red and pink roses she had kept from Chat.

“You got a rose, too?” Alya smirked. “Looks like _someone_ might have some competition.”

Adrien looked up at them, seeing the rose, and then looking at her face, and then the rose again. He looked like he was trying to figure out where the last piece of the puzzle was.

Marinette hoped this clue would be enough, and smiled at him before turning back to Alya. None of what she said had been false. Just that Marinette very well knew the person who gave her the rose. Or not, considering that she didn’t know Chat’s identity.

“Guess I have a secret admirer, too.”

* * *

Chat was absent-mindedly setting up the trap for the heart confetti surprise he had for his Lady tomorrow before he went on patrol. But he wasn’t really paying much attention to it. Because he was just too darn confused.

A _secret admirer._ Using the same tricks he’d been using on Ladybug.

Was it a coincidence? Or did they also get all their romantic ideas from manga?

> _Hope this makes your cheeks ROSY._

Chat groaned. They used his puns. It _couldn’t_ be Ladybug. She hadn’t been too appreciative of that _exact_ pun last night.

Then who was it?

Also, what was with Marinette? She’d been at school- not only on time, or early, but _very_ early for two days now. And she had a rose while his desk was covered in petals. And that _look_ she had given him when he’d looked back at her. 

There was something there, but he couldn’t quite figure out what it all meant.

Needless to say, the second-most popular hero of Paris was distracted while leaping across the roofs of Paris on his patrol (which somewhat defeated the point of _having_ the patrol in the first place, but Chat was too worried about that at the moment- he had other things on his mind).

And when the object of his preoccupation called out a friendly hello, he was startled enough that he missed a step and ever-so-elegantly crashed _right_ into her balcony, landing face first.

You know, like _every_ guy wanted to do in front of a cute girl.

To her credit, Marinette immediately scrambled over to him. "I'm so sorry, Chat Noir! I was only trying to give a friendly greeting, since I was out here sketching while you were on patrol. I didn't mean for you to-" She cut off. "Oh. You even scraped your cheek."

"It's fine, Princess," Chat reassured her. "Only the suit is indestructible, not my skin that's still exposed, and it doesn't hurt that mu-"

Wait. His _cheek?_ It may only be a scrape, but those took time to heal, and it wasn't exactly like it would be easy to hide if it was on his face. "Oh, no. _No no no no no._ My father's going to _kill_ me."

* * *

Chat Noir's plan was working well, and it certainly was good. There was just one problem with it that neither he or Marinette had considered.

If she was going to _soften him up,_ as Chat had put it, what was she supposed to do on the days she wasn't _able_ to get any suggestions from him. What about the days in between their patrols together?

Marinette realized this as she was out sketching on her balcony, and asked Tikki about it.

"Well, Marinette, maybe you should think about what he likes," the kwami suggested.

Marinette tapped her chin as if that would help her think. "I dunno, besides having free time to spend with his friends, or his father actually paying attention to him. But I can't exactly give _those_ to him, can I?"

Just then, she saw a darker shadow than the surrounding city start bounding towards him. It _was_ his night for patrol, wasn't it? And maybe she could get advice from him, anyways. It didn't hurt that he might be more willing to help Marinette with her crush than Ladybug, because he was not competing for _her_ heart.

So she stood up, waved to her partner, and called out, "Hey, Chat Noir!"

And watched frozen as he looked at her like she came out of the blue and crashed onto the balcony.

"I'm so sorry, Chat Noir!" Marinette apologized, raining towards him to help him up. "I was only trying to give a friendly greeting, since I was out here sketching while you were on patrol. I didn't mean for you to-"

She halted as she saw the light traces of red form on his right cheek. "Oh. You even scraped your cheek."

"It's fine, Princess," Chat quickly responded, obviously immediately going into civilian- reassurance mode. She could understand that easily enough. "Only the suit is indestructible, not my skin that's still exposed, and it doesn't hurt that mu-"

He had a point about the suit, but it had never come up before, because the portion of their uncovered bodies tropically didn't get hurt during the course of battle.

But then Marinette noticed that Chat had cut himself off, pulling her from her thoughts.She watched as his eyes widened and he put a hand on the cheek. "Oh, no. _No no no no no._ My father's going to _kill_ me."

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "I thought that you were the king of puns, not hyperboles, Chat Noir."

"That's because it's _not_ a hyperbole," he said defensively, meeting her eyes. Then he recoiled. "Well, maybe it _is_ a little bit of a hyperbole. But my father still won't like it- I can't say why without going into details about my identity."

Marinette took a moment to think about it. Tikki could heal things, right? Well, she'd have to ask, but for now… "Why don't we go in so we can take care of that, if you're so worried about it?" she suggested. "I think I might have something that just _might_ be able to help."

Chat complied, and once they got down from her loft, Marinette turned to him, and said, "Think you can stay in here while I go get first aid from the bathroom?"

"Sure."

"Without getting into anything?" she double-checked.

"Uhh…"

Marinette facepalmed, and it wasn't internally. " _You're_ supposed to be the suavest superhero in Pairs?"

He gave her an awkward grin. "Yes."

She sighed. "I'll be quick. Please _try_ not to get into anything, if you will."

"No promises."

"Of course not," Marinette grumbled as she left. "You're a cat."

As nervous as she was about leaving him unattended in her room, Marinette _was relieved_ to be away from him for a moment, and have another chance to talk to Tikki.

She really did get the first aid kit out. It was good to have, especially if Tikki _couldn't_ heal him magically.

"Tikki?" Marinette asked. "Could you heal Chat's scrape, without leaving a scar at all?"

"Sure!" the kwami chirped.

"Normally I wouldn't even _care_ at all, but… he just seemed so concerned about it," Marinette continued.

"Marinette."

"Hmm?"

"I already said I could. If I can fix Plagg's cataclysms, a simple scrape is even easier than a piece of cake."

Marinette shook her head, collecting her thoughts. "Yeah. What am I waiting for?" She was getting too concerned over Chat. "Let's go fix up a mangy alley cat."

* * *

Chat, despite not being certain enough to promise not to go through Marinette's things, really _was_ trying his best not to.

It helped when he got distracted by all the pictures of himself on her wall. When he had _asked_ , she said it was just for fashion, but… if that was the case, why weren't there any female models? He thought he'd seen more drawings of female designs in her sketchbook on the few occasions he'd been able to get a glimpse. Or other male ones, even?

Chat was still rather confused about Marinette. And it seemed like all of these pictures had something to do with the answer to all his questions.

"Alright, let's see how much of a mess you made in here," Marinette's voice announced her arrival.

Chat turned around to watch her as she poked her head through her trap door to her room, setting down the first aid kit before hauling herself up. "Wow. You actually didn't mess with anything, even in a room littered with fabric and sewing supplies. Are you sure you're a cat?"

Chat pouted. "Can't you just take care of my wound already?"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Wound? You're being dramatic. That's got to barely hurt. Didn't you ever get scraped as a kid?"

"Yeah, but it's been a while, and I didnt make a habit of getting hurt on my face."

"Whatever. Sit on the chaise."

He complied, too worried about angering his father to resist any of her orders for the treatment. She sat next to him, pulling out an alcohol pad, some gauze and medical tape.

"What, a bandaid wouldn't do?" Chat joked.

"Chat- is it okay if I call you Chat? Your whole name is a bit of a mouthful."

He smirked. "Only if I can call _you_ Mari. _Your_ name is a bit of a mouthful."

"Chat…" she groaned again. "You're seriously making me start to regret offering to help you."

"Fine, fine. Then, for both our sakes', let's get this over with as soon as possible."

Marinette started to open the alcohol wipe packet. "A bandaid wouldn't cover it."

"I'll apologize, too," Chat offered.

"No, I mean-" she extracted the wipe from it's packaging and used it to gesture towards his face. "The scrape covers a good portion of your cheek, Chat. That's why we need to use the gauze and tape. Hold still."

She slowly raised the wipe to his cheek before a stinging sensation hit the side of his face. Chat pulled back, hissing at the pain.

"I told you to _hold still,"_ Marinette complained.

"It hurt!" he protested. "I'm used to taking hits while fighting akumas- it's part of the job description. But _Ladybug_ never makes it hurt so much while tending to my wounds."

She gave him an odd look, then took off the small purse she always seemed to wear. "Here. Wear this for me."

Chat frowned. "Why?"

"It's magic," she said, her voice completely even.

"Really?"

"You have a magic kwami that turns you into a cat-themed superhero. Why can't I have a magic purse that helps take away pain from injuries?" Marinette retorted. "Seems to always help me with all the bruises I accumulate on account of being a klutz."

She had him convinced- Chat took the purse. As she went back to work, wiping his cheek and putting on the gauze and tape to hold it in place, it didn't seem to hurt nearly as much.

Once she was finished, she leaned back smiling. " And _that_ is what we call the placebo effect."

His jaw dropped. "Hey!"

She cackled at that.

"I'm leaving now," Chat grumbled, moving to take off the offensive loan.

"Wait," Marinette said, stopping him. "True, I _did_ want you to shut up, but I want you to stay."

When she said that, all of his confidence and charm came swaggering back in full force, and he left the purse on. "I _knew_ no one could resist my charm."

"Except Ladybug." Ouch. "But I actually _planned_ -" She intentionally wanted this to happen? Double ouch. Or was it triple, since he had been physically hurt earlier? "-on asking you for romantic advice for another boy."

Quadruple ouch.

"You _planned_ this?"

Marinette made a disgruntled face. "Not you getting hurt. I was just wondering what I should do for this boy I like in class, and I thought, _You know, Chat seems like he knows a lot of romantic stuff, and sometimes he'll stop by, so why don't I ask him for advice?_ And then we would've had this conversation up on my balcony. Except that you fell."

So she hadn't _meant_ for him to get hurt. Still, that left him at double ouch.

"Fine, Princess," Chat relented. "So, who's the lucky prince?"

Marinette froze up. "I… You know what? If I'm going to tell him how I feel, I need to get used to telling other people about it, too. It's...well." She gestured to the wall.

The wall covered by his face.

"It's not just a celebrity crush!" she said defensively, as if his opinion on the subject mattered somehow. Well, it did, but his opinion shouldn't matter to her. All she knew was that he was a superhero that had agreed to listen to her and give her advice. "In fact, at first, I didn't even _like_ him because of it. But then he explained our misunderstanding and gave me his umbrella and I found out how sweet and kind and caring he was… and then I never could hardly get out a coherent sentence around him."

Wait. She loved him for being _him?_

That was… oddly refreshing. Chat was overjoyed that she liked him like that. Her choice of words for describing him we're familiar, but he couldn't _quite_ put his finger on it.

"And then leave it to me to fall in love with the most oblivious boy in Paris. Even when I've _tried_ confessing to him, he can't tell that I am."

Okay. Chat deserved that guilt. Leave it to him to have the most amazing civilian girl he knew be head over heels for him for the past three years and he was _just now_ getting a clue about it.

Deciding to change the subject of the conversation away from talking directly about him, Chat said, "So… what exactly do you need help deciding?"

Marinette fidgeted. "Well, I've been taking advice from-" she paused, giving him an odd look "-a friend, who told me to soften him up first. So I've been getting up early in the mornings to go put something on his desk, because I'm still a bit scared to be doing this at all."

Chat's breath caught. He wasn't sure how he didn't piece it together when she first confessed her crush Marinette was _secret admirer._

That realization certainly got his cheeks _rosy_.

"So… why do you need my help, if you have this friend?" he asked shakily.

"Uh… I don't have a chance to see my friend everyday, and I don't exactly have a way to contact them. That's why I figured I'd ask you."

"Okay," he said. “I’d say probably… give him something that he likes?”

“OH!” Why did she have to look so adorably cute, lighting up at the thought of making him happy? “He loves macarons- though he doesn’t get them often since he’s supposed to be on a diet as a model. And passion fruit is his favorite flavor!” She bit her lip, smiling. “Thanks, Chat.”

“I… hardly did anything.”

She shrugged. “You got me thinking in the right direction.”

Chat was trying _really_ hard not to blush. And to control his heart.

“Let’s check your scrape.”

He frowned. “It couldn’t be healed yet, could it?”

“It doesn't hurt to check.”

Then she was pulling it away. And smiled. “All fixed up.”

Chat’s head swiveled towards her mirror. She was right. “But- how?”

“Maybe my purse really _is_ magic,” Marinette mused. “Which I want back before sending you off to finish your patrol. No reason to keep you here any longer.”

He took off the purse and handed it to her. She smiled at him, and his heart was _not_ supposed to do that just because his friend smiled.

“Thanks for helping me out, Chat Noir.” Marinette went on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

Chat knew that there was nothing he could do to hide his blush _now._ “I think you helped _me_ more than I helped _you,_ but you’re right. I need to go now.”

It was good that he had already completed most of his patrol already, because he was even worse with paying attention than he had been before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it’s so long. Marinette and Chat are actually good at talking to each other. TOO good, in fact. I’m apologizing because that’s why it took me so long to post it.  
> And I feel like the very ending is a bit rushed. Again, sorry. At this point I just wanted to finish it.


	5. Hearts | Cœur

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They’re (finally) starting to realize their feelings for each other.
> 
> * * *
> 
> _LadyNoir_

Adrien  _ swore _ that he could literally see the hearts coming off of her. How had he ever missed it before?

The promised macarons were there. Passion fruit flavor. How did she even  _ know  _ that was his favorite flavor? Adrien had never really told  _ anyone, _ not even Nino.

It was uncomfortable to be in the seat right in front of her, now. Now that he knew she must have been staring dreamily at the back of his head for the past  _ three _ years now.

In between classes, Nino gave Adrien a concerned look. “You okay, man? You keep glancing back at Marinette.”

“Nope! Nothing’s wrong!” he answered a bit too quickly to not sound inconspicuous.

Nino still looked doubtful. “Yeah,  _ right. _ Are you just realizing that you’ve had a crush on her for the past three years?”

“No I-” Adrien stopped as he realized that denial sounded even more guilty.

Wait.  _ Did _ he have a crush on Marinette? He had to admit, she was attractive, and he liked her in ways he didn’t like most of his other friends. She was kind, loving, helpful… he himself had compared her to Ladybug- the love of his life. The only thing not in her favor was that she wasn’t  _ actually _ Ladybug.

“I… actually didn’t realize that I had a crush on her until you pointed it out,” Adrien admitted. “What I  _ did _ finally realize was the crush that she’s had on me for the past three years.”

Nino’s eyebrows shot up. “How’d that happen?”

Adrien shrugged. “It kinda just… clicked.” It didn’t hurt that she had told him herself last night.

Nino sighed in relief. “Just… if you decide to ever tell Alya or Marinette, make sure they know that  _ I _ didn’t tell you.”

Adrien nodded.

“So… are you going to ask her out?”

That caught Adrien off-guard. “I- I don’t know.”

He still loved Ladybug. But Marinette loved him. And he liked her.

Maybe he could give her a chance.

* * *

Hearts. Why did it have to be  _ hearts? _

“Chat… what made you think that it would be a  _ marvelous _ idea to let it rain down heart confetti on us?”

When he didn’t say anything, Ladybug looked up from where she had placed her face in her palm. For once, he looked a little frazzled out, and more annoyed about this than she was.

Chat slowly shook his head. “This was a  _ terrible _ idea.”

“Chat?” she asked cautiously. He… was definitely acting out of character.

“I’ve been seeing hearts all day long!” He wracked his hands through the air. “Make them stop! Make them stop! We’re just friends! I don’t  _ want _ to have a crush on her!”

Ladybug held up her hands, slowly taking a step forward. He moved back.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen!” he ranted. “How am I supposed to decide? I don’t want to, but I like her, and  _ she _ likes me! I don’t know whether I want to ask her out or not!”

She frowned. “Wait.  _ That’s  _ what’s troubling you? If you both like each other, why not just ask her out already?”

“But there’s  _ you!” _ Chat said uncertainly. “But then there’s her, and I- augh!”

Ladybug sighed. “Who knows? Maybe you could fall in love with her. And then we could both be happier.”

“But I-” Chat cut off. “I’ll ask her out, but I’ll give myself a day or so to think about it. Maybe. I don’t know. I’m going to go patrol some more!”

Then he pulled out his baton and was off.

Ladybug stood there for a moment, feeling a little shell-shocked. Out of all the craziness of Chat Noir, that was  _ not _ something she’d expect to hear him say. Ever.

“And I’m just going to… go home,” Ladybug said. “Yeah.” Talking to herself. Real smooth. Great.

With a groan, she bent down to pick up some of the heart confetti for Adrien tomorrow, before swinging off herself.

She  _ swore _ she didn’t mean to stop at the Agreste Mansion, sitting on the wall close to the building, but that’s where she ended up. Looking into Adrien’s dark and empty room. Strange. It was a bit early for him to be asleep already, and he didn’t have any events on his schedule for tonight.

Ladybug sighed. Why did she feel this way? So let down? Wasn’t it a  _ good  _ thing that Chat had a crush on someone that was  _ not _ her?

So then why was she so disappointed?

Stupid Chat. Stupid challenge. Stupid not-being-able-to-confess-to-the-boy-you’ve-been-in-love-with-for-the-past-three-years.

Ladybug was tired of stealing Chat’s tricks. She had done fine on her own this morning with those macarons. She’d figure out something on her own again.

She thrust the heart confetti towards the mansion, only to have the wind blow them back in her face.

Stupid hearts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh? Did I mention that the beginning of their realization of their feelings will start the angst required to meet all of these prompts? No? Oops.


	6. Crush | Engouement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry. I didn’t do this yesterday like I should have, and while I knew mostly what I wanted to happen in it, I had a hard time figuring out how exactly I should make that happen.  
> And I got distracted doing other things that were actually important. Or, at least I think it is. ~~Guess who made a llama bandanna to add to their collection?~~
> 
> * * *
> 
> _Ladrien_

Adrien thought it was better when he only knew that  _ Marinette  _ had a crush on  _ him. _ Now that he was aware of his crush on her…

Somehow it was worse.

He knew if she tried talking to him, they'd  _ both  _ be stuttering messes.

So he avoided her the best he could.

Or so he resolved, before even getting to school.

Then Adrien saw what was on his desk.

He recognized it as an American soda called Crush.

> _ I hear that this shares a name with the English term for someone you are infatuated with. I certainly have a 'crush' on you. _

It was only embellished with hearts, leaving no name. There was no need for one, more than Marinette knew.

Adrien sighed, stashing it in his bag before anyone else noticed.

If only his figurative crush was as easy to deal with.

* * *

Ladybug couldn't help herself.

She stopped on the wall next to Adrien's room. There was no one else to keep her in check, no schedule for her to keep. Besides, it wasn't like anything had happened because of it yesterday- good, bad, or otherwise.

She stared into the empty room. He would probably be back from his fencing practice soon, but she wondered if he would show up.

Yesterday… ugh. That had made her going crazy _ today. _ Even with what she gave to Adrien, she couldn't help but think of something Chat probably would have loved more than the boy she intended it for.

She'd always  _ liked _ Chat to some degree… but in the past couple of days, she had just seen it so much  _ more _ .

And Adrien had been more awkward around her today- even more than yesterday. What had even  _ happened? _ When did she start to be able to not freak out as much about him, and he started to act the way  _ she  _ used to?

Chat was seriously somehow messing her head on  _ Ladybug's  _ end of things.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice when Adrien did, indeed, come back from fencing, until he started tapping on the window, gaining her attention.

Ladybug looked up, only a little flushed. “Hey, Adrien. Sorry, I was just standing here while thinking. I probably need to keep patrolling the city anyhow-”

“It’s fine, Ladybug,” he quickly interjected. “If you’re not  _ too _ pressed for time, I was wondering if you’d like to come in for a while, I guess.”

She hesitated. "Um…"

"I'm sure that it's warmer in here than out there," Adrien continued.

That was all the convincing she needed. The suit provided more warmth than actual spandex would, but still, it  _ was _ February. “Okay, okay, I’ll come in.”

As soon as she was in, he shut the window, and Ladybug couldn’t help but sigh in relief. She hadn’t realized  _ just _ how cold she had gotten sitting out there.

Adrien smiled at her reaction. “Didn’t realize how cold it was, did you?”

“No, I didn’t. Thanks for letting me in to warm up. My kwami takes care of most of the exposure to the elements, but it’s not good for her.”

He shrugged. “No problem.”

“No problem?” Ladybug exclaimed. “You don’t have much time or privacy to yourself, and invite a superheroine in during one of the times that you do, and call it  _ no problem? _ You, Adrien Agreste, are too kind and caring.”

“It’s not too terrible,” Adrien retorted. “You save Paris all the time. I’m sure everyone’s lost count of all the akumas you’ve helped defeat. Doing something to help  _ you _ in return is the least I can do.”

She bristled. “But you already  _ do  _ help me out  _ all the time!” _

He halted. “…I do?”

Oh, right… she couldn’t mention how helpful and kind and nice he was to  _ Marinette _ . She was Ladybug right now. What were all the akumas that he had helped her with again? “Let me count the times. Simon Says, the Collector, Gorizilla, Style Queen, Desperada-”

“Okay, I get your point,” he interjected. “Still, I would never pass up a chance to help you, Ladybug.”

Was it always this hot in here? Ladybug’s cheeks had always been that shade of pink, right? Suddenly going out into the cold air to finish patrol didn’t sound too bad. “Thanks, Adrien. For everything. But I really  _ do  _ need to go finish up my patrol.”

Adrien nodded. “I understand. Just glad I was able to help you at all.”

As she swung out and went on her patrol, Ladybug had a huge smile on her face.

How could she love Chat Noir, when there was still Adrien?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The whole part about the cold was written in the car this morning, before it had warmed up at all. Curse you cold front, I very much don’t like winter!  
> As I was finishing up this, my sister was playing Disney music, and “I won’t say that I’m in Love,” came on, and I feel that accurately more-or-less describes their feelings at this point in the fic.


	7. Pink and Red | Rose et Rouge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loose interpretation of the prompt. Eh~. But hey, it was hard to fit it in, though it _did_ change from my initial planning.  
> So late again. I had a rough time trying to write it when I gave myself a chance, and I watched too much anime to do that. I need to stop doing that.
> 
> * * *
> 
> _LadyNoir_

Adrien felt like he was looking at the world through rose-tinted glasses- and not just because of all the Valentine’s decorations.

Last night, seeing Ladybug had simply been _amazing._ Especially since she said all those things about him… with how kind and caring she thought he was, even despite their limited interactions…

Wait. Adrien paused en route to class. Ladybug had used those exact words to describe her mystery boy. Could he possibly be…?

He knew that hope could probably only lead to his heart getting broken by her,  _ again, _ but he couldn’t quite let it go.

Adrien smiled. He knew it might not be Valentine’s day yet, or even the last patrol before it, but he  _ knew _ what he had to do tonight. It wouldn’t be for the first time, but he  _ had _ to confess to her.

Once he got into the classroom and saw the typical Valentine’s cut-out card, Adrien frowned.

He couldn’t just dismiss Marinette. He still did like her, still as a bit more than a friend, but he wanted to preserve that friendship regardless.

And, out of anyone,  _ Marinette _ didn’t deserve to get hurt.

He picked up the card, ready for whatever it said.

> _ A long time ago, I gave you a card just like this, but I didn’t sign my name  **then** , either. But my feelings still ring as true as that day. _

That… wait.  _ That _ Valentine’s card? Adrien knew everything he was getting was from Marinette, but… he’d always hoped that was from Ladybug. He always hoped that his feelings were reciprocated.

Adrien sighed as he sat down. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Marinette, if anything, it was the opposite. But Ladybug was his first love. He would need that to be killed off first- one last fatal blow, before he could give her a chance.

* * *

Marinette wished she could get her cheeks away from the color pink. But she was still just beaming with happiness from seeing Adrien last night.

It  _ might _ just be admiration for a superhero, but… it felt at least she had a chance.

No, Marinette couldn’t gather up the courage to confess at school, in front of witnesses (*cough* _ Alya _ *cough*), but she thought she might be able to do it alone.

So, after the bell for lunch rang, she caught his hand.

Adrien looked back, startled, but relaxed when he saw it was her. “Hey, Marinette.”

“Hey, Adrien.” Marinette smiled at him, still feeling a little flushed and breathless. “I was wondering if…”

Alya had obviously tuned in to their exchange, and was not-so-subtly trying to see what happened.

Whatever. It’s not like it would throw a halter in her plans. Marinette pressed on. “…if you would like to meet up tomorrow. You know, hang out?”

Nino heard the words “hang out,” and suddenly the conversation was on his radar. “Cool! All four of us could hang out!”   
Adrien immediately jumped on board with the idea. “Yeah! I think I have some free time both tomorrow and Sunday! If you guys wouldn’t mind meeting up both days, that is.”

Marinette grimaced, and gave Nino a  _ look. _ She knew that Alya had told him about her crush when they had started dating  _ ages _ ago, and Nino wasn’t nearly as oblivious as the love of her life, so he  _ better _ get it when she said, “Actually, I wanted to talk to Adrien  _ alone. _ ”

She watched as Nino’s eyes widened. “Oh.  _ Oh. _ OHHH. I see. Well, Alya and I will just leave-”

“You know what?” Alya- graciously- cut in, knowing full well how Marinette didn’t want to have anything accidentally spilled before she spilled her guts  _ herself. _ “I think that sounds  _ great, _ Adrien. And afterwards, you and Marinette can stick around for whatever she wants to talk about. Sound good?”

That… actually did.

Even Adrien nodded, though he still looked uneasy. “I guess that’s… fine.”

Marinette took a deep breath before following her friends out of the classroom.

That was it. Tomorrow was the day. Marinette would tell Adrien how she felt about him.

Besides, what was the worst he could say?

* * *

"No."

Chat looked down, clenching his fists. "Why?  _ Why _ can't you accept my feelings for you?"

"Because of  _ him," _ Ladybug said. "I can't give up on him. I've decided to confess tomorrow, and I intend to keep our agreement."

He looked away, scoffing. "I'm not asking you to return my feelings. What's so bad about their existence?"

She whipped her head towards him. "I don't want to lead you on or give you false hope, Chat. I still care for you as my friend and my partner. I can't do that to hurt you."

Chat frowned. "You're barely giving me a chance. You'll only accept me if things don't play out the way you want them to."

"Chat, I-"

"I don't want to hear it." He seethed. "I can't keep chasing you on the glimmer of hope that one day you'll return my feelings. Especially since I've realized how I feel about Ma- about my friend."

The look of anguish on her face wasn't helping his resolve. "I'm sorry kitty. I still can't-"

_ "You still can't." _ Chat clenched his teeth. The final, fatal blow had been dealt. "I'm sorry _ , _ but it's over. My feelings the deal- all of it. I'll remain your friend and partner, but that's all we'll ever be able to be."

He turned away before he could see her expression. This was hard enough as it was. "Goodbye,  _ Ladybug." _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof. It's over. And if you don't want your heart broken even _more_ , I highly recommend not looking up the prompt for tomorrow, if it's not too late already.  
> The next chapter will be a long one. All the MariChat ones are, I realized, because I put major plot points in each of them.  
> Which is a bit of a problem, since I'm also going to be going to my town's annual Chocolate Affair (which is amazing) in the morning and a huge booksale where you can get books for super cheap afterwards. I'll get the best head start I can on it tonight, and I think I'll probably be able to post it tomorrow, but I doubt I'll be able to do the one for Sunday, like I originally planned, as well. Just giving you a heads-up.


	8. Heartbreak | Chagrin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who’s excited for more angst?  
> Not me. But we don’t always get what we want in life, now do we?
> 
> * * *
> 
> MariChat

Adrien had managed to convince Nathalie to allow him to invite his friends over to hangout in his room on Saturday. His father, of course, being Gabriel, couldn't be bothered with the trivial details of his son's life.

Alya was the only one in awe. "Whoa, Adrien. This is a wicked set-up." She glanced at Marinette and Nino. "I was about to ask why you two weren't having the same reaction, but then I remembered about that stupid all-guy party that Marinette snuck into."

Her boyfriend laughed nervously. "Yeah…"

“I’m still mad about that,” Alya said, giving them a dirty look.

_ Okay.  _ This was starting to look bad. So Adrien intervened. “C’mon guys. Don’t get stuck up in the past. We’re here to enjoy time together as friends. Do you want to play a video game or something?”

Marinette perked up for the first time. She had been looking troubled before that, and not just in her typical nervous way. “YES!”

Alya frowned. “No way! You and Adrien will  _ crush _ me and Nino!”   
“Exactly!”

Okay. Intervention time again. “We can play on teams.”

“Fine.” Alya crossed her arms. “Girls against boys. That’s the only way I’ll agree.”

Nino held up his arms in an X shape. “No way! That’s unfair. Sorry bro, but Marinette will still kick our butts, even if it were all three of us against her.”

Adrien was sure she could. The only person he knew besides her that even  _ might  _ be better at video games was Ladybug.  _ No, don’t think of her. Abort, abort abort! _

Luckily, Marinette spoke up. “We could switch up partners every few rounds, so everyone gets a chance to play with whoever they want, and then we can move on to something else.”

Leave it to  _ everyday Ladybug _ to come up with a solution they could all agree on.

* * *

Adrien knew this was coming. And he was seriously beginning to question what to do more and more.

He had no doubt that Marinette’s reason for talking to him today was in order to confess. Where she had finally mustered the courage to do that, he had no clue. But he found that the most likely, especially as Alya winked at Marinette and Nino gave Adrien a thumbs up right before they left.

Adrien was concerned about whether or not he should accept. Yes, since Nino had helpfully pointed out his crush on Wednesday, he had been falling hard. But, despite what he had told Ladybug last night, and trying to settle his feelings for her, he still felt something for her. Not to mention how much he felt like scum when he thought about how he would be moving onto someone else very quickly.

So  _ no, _ Adrien did  _ not _ know what to say.

He glanced at Marinette- still a little flushed and probably even more nervous- took a deep breath. “Adrien, I have something to tell you.”

“I know.”

“You… know what it is that I wanted to tell you?”

Oh, right. He wasn’t supposed to know, was he? But he did, and he wouldn’t deny that. “Yes. I know that you love me, Marinette.”

“Oh.” Marinette put her hands in her lap, fidgeting, biting her bottom lip. “So…?”

Adrien turned away so that he was facing forward instead of towards her. He ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know what to say, Marinette. It’s just… been a bit of a crazy week. I  _ finally _ realized about your crush on Tuesday, and told Nino on Wednesday, who helped me realize that I’ve had a smaller crush on you for just as long, and…”

She held her hands up. “Wait. Slow down. What are you trying to say?”

Right. “I guess my point is… my point is that, since I’ve realized my feelings for you, I’ve fallen for you, hard and fast. But…”

Marinette’s face fell. “But?”

He leaned back and took a deep breath. “You remember when we went to the wax museum a couple of years ago?”

“Please don’t remind me,” Marinette groaned.

Looking back, thinking about that prank gone  _ very _ wrong, he realized that it very much  _ was _ a confession on her part. But yes, he could understand her not wanting to remember that particular part. “No no no. That’s not what I meant. I was going to talk about the car ride after, where I mentioned the girl I liked. It’s probably the only time I’ve told any of my friends about her. And, even though she still doesn’t like me the same way, I can’t seem to get rid of my feelings for her.”

Marinette stood up, blinking furiously. “Well, then. If that’s the way you feel, I won’t stop you from pursuing her.”

She started walking away.

“Wait!”

Marinette didn’t listen.

Adrien stood up, caught her wrist, and pulled her into an embrace. “That’s not what I want, Marinette. Don’t just give up.”

She struggled, but with her arms pinned to her side by his, there wasn’t much that she could do. “I want  _ you _ to be happy, Adrien. So I’m putting your feelings first. Go after the girl you love, not m-Mmh.”

She was cut off as Adrien (who, admittedly, didn’t think too much about it beforehand) kissed her. He put all his feelings for her in the kiss, and for a moment, completely forgot about Ladybug.

After a second he realized just how rash of a decision it had been, but then she began to respond, pressing her lips to his, relaxing into his hold, moving her arms around him in return. Adrien tilted his head to deepen the kiss, letting go of his grip on her in order to cup her face with his hands.

Finally, he pulled back so that they could breath, and he rested his forehead against hers. “You  _ are _ the girl I love. Don’t doubt that. Everything’s happened a bit too fast, so I can’t accept your feelings until I get over this other girl.”

Marinette pulled her head down to his chest, which was more comfortable for his neck, considering their height difference. “I can’t really blame you. I’m also struggling with feelings for another boy.”

Adrien didn’t like to know that he had competition. But… it sounded like he might stand a better chance. “You  _ do _ understand that I’m not rejecting you, right? This is just a not-yet.”

Marinette finally used her hands that had been separating their chests to push away. “My brain does. But… it still hurts. Especially since this other boy, who’s also a friend, is complicated as well.”

He frowned. “Can we be okay? As friends, for now?”

Marinette nodded. “Yes. See you tomorrow, I guess.”

* * *

After hearing the notification from her phone, Marinette moved to check it.

It was from Alya.

> _ Hey girl, how’d it go? _

What was she supposed to say to that. How  _ did _ it go? She wasn’t rejected, but also not accepted?

So what exactly was Marinette supposed to tell her best friend? She started typing.

> _It_ _was ~~perfect~~ and _~~_went_ _wrong in every way imaginable._~~ _okay I guess. We_ ~~ _kissed_~~ _talked and he knew about my crush already._ ~~ _Did you or Nino tell him?_~~ _He_ ~~ _apparently loves me too and we_~~ _decided we should just be friends_ ~~ _while we get our feelings sorted out_~~ _for now._

Marinette stared at the message for a moment. Even with all the editing, she wasn’t sure she liked it, and wanted to say  _ anything _ over text message, especially while everything was so uncertain between them. She decided to discard the whole thing before sending back a simple.

> _ Tell you tomorrow. _

There. Sent.

Marinette discarded her phone next to her on her bed, sighing. She grabbed her giant cat pillow and held it to her chest. “Tikki, I don’t  _ know _ what to do. It seems like Adrien loves me, and I still love him, but between his mystery girl and Chat, I don’t even know what I  _ want.” _

Tikki came over to her, comfortingly. “It’ll be fine, Marinette. I’m sure that you’ll figure it out. Matters of the heart are always-”

There was a tap at the trap door leading up to the balcony. There was only two options of who it could be: Chat or a pigeon. Most likely the latter, considering that Chat had no reason to stop by her place tonight, despite it being  _ his _ patrol.

Marinette signaled for Tikki to hide just in case it  _ was _ Chat, despite how unlikely that was. She reached up, touching the door lightly before exerting a lot more force to carry it open- her sure-proof way to scare off pigeons.

It always worked with the annoyingsome birds, which was accompanied by a scurrying and fluttering of wings. But the  _ very _ human groan that followed it told her that it was, rather than the typical pigeon, the superhero of Paris besides herself.

Who was now looking down at her with a dirty look, clutching his nose. “What was  _ that  _ for, princess?”

“Uhh… I thought you were a pigeon. That usually scares them away. I wasn’t expecting to get visited by a superhero tonight.”

It wasn’t a lie in the slightest. “Why  _ am  _ I getting a visit from you, kitty?”

He shrugged. “Just your friendly neighborhood cat, trying to keep up spirits in order to prevent akumas. Helps my job in the long-run.”

“If you’re looking for free pastries, you’re not getting any.”

Chat put a hand to his chest as if he was offended. “You think I would take advantage of your pastries instead of simply seeking out a friendly conversation?”

Marinette raised her eyebrows. “You certainly didn’t object to stuffing your mouth with them at that Sunday brunch debacle.”

“… _ Touché,” _ he admitted. “But tonight I really  _ did _ just want to talk.”

She sighed. This was more than likely  _ not _ going to help her decide what she wanted to do between these two boys, but it couldn’t hurt  _ too _ much, now could it?

Marinette sat up, still clutching the cat pillow, and patted her bed next to her. “Come on in, then.”

Chat looked uncharacteristically nervous at the prospect. “I’m fine just sitting here, thanks.”

“I’m not. It’s February, and if you’re just sitting up there, you’re letting all that cold air in. So,  _ thanks, _ but no. If you want to talk, come in and sit next to me.”

He relented, coming to sit next to her, closing the door once he was through.

“On second thought,” Marinette mused, “I’m not sure how I feel about having your  _ boots _ on my  _ bed.” _

“Princess!” Chat protested. “These aren’t just any boots that will track mud around. These are  _ magic  _ boots.” He held up one of his feet, as if that would make his point. “They are pristine and clean at  _ all _ times. Your bed is safe.”

She tried not to laugh. She really did. “Fine. I guess you’ve got me convinced. Anything specific you wanted to talk about?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, but is there anything  _ you _ want to talk about first?”

“Only if you care to listen to me complain about all of my boy troubles.”

“Why not?”

Marinette narrowed her eyes at him. Why would he care? It’s not like he knew one of the boys she was frustrated with  _ was _ him, so why was he interested in it?

Then again… it  _ would  _ be nice to complain to someone. Tikki was nice, but Chat was someone she knew who could relate more, especially after last night.

“Fine. You asked for it, though.”

He smiled all-too-innocently. Suspicious.

Marinette took a deep breath. “Tuesday, I told you about my hugenormous crush on Adrien, and how I was getting some advice from a friend about how to confess, right?” He nodded. “Well, I don’t remember if I told you this or not, but this friend is a guy who has been pretty much head-over-heels in love with me for the past three years, and his ‘advice’ was trying different things to  _ woo _ me or whatever, which I repurposed and used on Adrien.”

She was walking dangerously along the line of being  _ too _ specific, but she didn’t think it was too much. “Anyhow, I’ve recently realized that I kinda have it bad for this guy, but apparently there’s  _ another _ girl he’s been falling for, and he decided to give up on me last night. Today I confessed to Adrien, who kinda likes me back, but there’s someone else he likes, and I also like this other guy, so… I don’t know what to do now.”

Marinette looked back up at Chat. Were his eyes  _ always _ that wide? “Uhm… I think you should still try to make it work with this Adrien guy. He seems like a more solid option.”

She sighed. “I just don’t know. It would’ve been nice if I had realized how I felt about this other guy literally  _ anytime in the last three years. _ Then this could have not been a problem at all.”

Chat sighed, but it was more frustrated than hers. “How terrible. You like this guy who’s finally moved on and aren’t sure if you want to date the guy who’s finally opened his eyes and realized how amazing you are after three years and even kissed you?”

Wait. Marinette hadn’t said anything about Adrien  _ kissing  _ her earlier. There was no way anyone besides her and-

Adrien. Chat Noir was Adrien. That was the only explanation. And it made sense. His  _ mystery  _ girl, had she  _ confessed  _ to him on Tuesday? Without realizing it?

Now she  _ really _ hoped that she hadn’t accidentally spilled her identity to him. It was bad enough that she knew his.

“You’re right, I should make things work out with Adrien. Would you  _ look _ at the time? Thanks for the advice, Chat, but I _ really _ ought to get to sleep.”

Marinette finished shooing him away. How the heck could she get things to work with Adrien sooner? Because if he was simply madly in love with  _ all _ of her, she didn’t know if she could give him the time to sort out his feelings.

* * *

Once back in his bedroom and detransformed, Adrien flopped onto his bed.

Marinette was Ladybug. Her scenario was too similar to simply explain it away.

He had really shot himself in the foot earlier, hadn’t he? Now how was he supposed to explain to her that he was ready, since she  _ was _ Ladybug?

Maybe he’d just wait for Valentine’s day. That was just over a week away. He could make it super romantic, and then they could actually start dating.

For the first time in a while, Adrien felt like he didn’t have his heart torn in two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay… I liked that kiss scene. Finally, reading all those fanfics and k-dramas came in handy.  
> I was a bit exhausted over the weekend, and trying to mold the story to my original idea, which was really just not working. So I finally decided, who cares? I’ll just let them do what they want, and if it’ll still work out in the end, it doesn’t matter.  
> So it’s not really as much heartbreak as my original idea, but hey, I’m certainly not complaining about less angst. And it led to a double-blind reveal, which, if you didn’t know, I’m a sucker for.


	9. Cupid | Cupidon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: Let’s try to get caught up before the fic ends!  
> Also me: *avoids writing fanfic by reading fanfic, watching anime, and rereading a manga even though I also just watched the anime of it simply because it’s my favorite and it’s hilarious (Gekkun Shoujo Nozaki-kun, or Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, if anyone’s interested)*
> 
> * * *
> 
> _LadyNoir_

Alya looked down at her phone to check the time. Dang it, they were late. She had been hoping to grab Mari beforehand and interrogate her about what the heck had  _ happened _ yesterday.

Even if she didn’t want a text message conversation, what had happened that she didn’t even want to  _ talk _ to her best friend today.

Alya was full-well expecting Marinette to be heart-broken today, if she even showed up. Come to think of it, even if she and Nino  _ had _ been on time, it was unlikely that  _ Marinette _ would be, even in perfectly normal circumstances.

So it would be a bit of an understatement to say that Alya was _ shocked _ when she saw that, not only were Marinette and Adrien already both there, they were both  _ bantering _ with each other and stealing glances at the moments in between. Alya’s jaw dropped when she saw Marinette  _ push him away. _ Playfully, but still. This was Marinette they were talking about, around  _ Adrien. _

Alya knew that her two friends were both sappy and romantic enough that if they  _ had _ gotten together yesterday, they would be cuddling or holding hands or  _ something, _ not… flirting? Because from what she could tell, that’s what they were doing.

Alya grabbed Nino’s shoulder, stopping him before he could proceed further. “Wha-?”

She held up a hand. “I’m thinking that the confession yesterday was… neither good or bad.” Alya nodded her head in their direction. “That, or I’m misreading the situation completely.”

Her boyfriend frowned. “Okay? What are  _ we  _ supposed to do about it?”

Alya smirked. “We’ll get the story out of them. And then, unless they  _ are _ dating already, we get to play cupid.”

Because her two friends were obviously hopelessly head-over-heels for each other. And if there was anything Alya could do about it- and she  _ could- _ it wouldn’t remain  _ hopeless _ for long.

* * *

“Milady,” Chat Noir said, falling to one knee and kissing Ladybug’s hand.

She pulled it back. What was this alley cat up to? “I thought you were going to stop pursuing me.”

“Uh-” He quickly stood up. “Old habit. Hard to break.”   
It wasn’t that she minded. Except that, as far as she knew, he didn’t know who  _ she _ was. And that was… not ideal. So she didn’t know what to make of this behavior. It made Ladybug almost want to spill the beans right then and there.

But that would ruin her plans for Valentine’s day. Which she was still working on. But hey, you can’t rush perfection.

Alya seemed intent earlier on playing matchmaker, but Marinette was more than capable of getting this cat to do anything for her without any help.

She couldn’t  _ wait  _ for Friday. But until then, it would be hard to keep the cat in the bag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s a bit shorter, and it isn’t actually showing the playing cupid or anything, but hey, I’m trying. The story drastically changed from what I originally thought it would be in the last chapter. It should be back on track by Wednesday. In the fic. I have no clue if I’ll be able to get that back on track by today.


	10. Balloons | Montgolfière

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like writing from Marinette and Adrien’s point of views. Seriously. But it can get rather boring to just be writing from the same perspective over and over… so I find myself writing from other characters’ POV more and more.  
> And, out of all the other characters that I’ve used, writing Chloé’s is by far my favorite.
> 
> * * *
> 
> _Ladrien_

Chloé hummed to herself as she waltzed into the classroom.

She wasn't fashionably late, because she needed to get there before school in order to carry out her plan, after all. But she  _ did _ wait until five minutes before class started, so everyone was there. Even Dupain-Cheng, which seemed like a marvel, considering how often she was late.

Walking up to the front of the room, Chloé clapped her hands to gain everyone’s attention. “Attention please.  _ I _ have an announcement to make.”

Everyone looked at her dubiously, as if unsure about what the announcement was going to be. What, did they think it was going to be anything  _ bad? _ Puh- _ lease. _ It was going to be  _ amazing. _

Chloé cleared her throat. “You are all invited to my Valentine’s day party tomorrow night. Even Dupain-Cheng. But don’t take it personally, because Daddy just insisted on making it open to my  _ entire _ class. Something about being ‘kind.’ Whatever. Obviously it’s at  _ Le Grande Paris, _ and it starts at seven pm.”

“Um… Chloé?” Dupain-Cheng’s friend spoke up. That was the Ladyblogger, right? “Why are you having it on  _ Tuesday _ when Valentine’s Day is  _ Friday?” _

Chloé clucked her tongue. “Because,  _ obviously, _ I’m going to be on an amazing, gorgeous, romantic date on Valentine’s day.”

The Ladyblogger raised an eyebrow. “So what? Wednesday and Thursday were unavailable?”

“I _did_ say that I was going to have a _gorgeous_ date on Friday, right? Obviously I have to get _ready_ for it.” Such a _plain_ girl  wouldn’t understand that beauty takes time. “Okay. Everyone can come if you want. Go back to whatever boring conversations you were having.”

Chloé would have been offended that they didn’t need a second prompting, but… they  _ were _ peasants after all. They couldn’t be expected to appreciate just how  _ amazing _ she was.

Now. For her second objective before boring classes start. Chloé snapped, cuing Sabrina to bring her the balloons as her eyes locked in on her target and she walked forward.

_ “Adri-kins~” _

Adrien’s head turned away from he had been-  _ ugh- flirting  _ with Dupain-Cheng. He gave what Chloé knew was only a polite smile. “What is it, Chloé?”

“I was wondering if  _ you’d _ be my date for Valentine’s day?”

She could tell that he was doing his  _ absolute best  _ not to grimace. “Ugh… no. I don’t already have plans or anything, but there  _ was _ something else I was hoping to do.”

She sighed. “When I got you balloons and everything. Here, you can keep them. I have no better use for them.”

Though Chloé would deny it if anyone asked, she wasn’t hurt in the slightest. It seemed like her oldest friend had  _ finally  _ come to his senses about his crush on Dupain-Cheng, and was planning to ask her out.

Oh well. His loss. Now she had Friday evening free to binge on sushi, chocolates, and cheesy romcoms on Netflix.

* * *

Marinette could tell that Adrien wasn’t exactly thrilled with everything Chloé did earlier. Especially since he’d have to carry around all of those obnoxious Valentine’s Day balloons, even though he’d rejected her.

“-you going?” Alya’s question dragged her out of her thoughts.

Even if Marinette hadn’t heard the full question, there was no doubt about what her friend was asking about. Chloé’s party. “I don’t think so.”

Alya frowned. “Come on, girl. I know that you and Chloé don’t get along, but I doubt that she'll skimp on the party. Just think- the refreshment table.”

To be fair, Alya had a point. But that wasn’t what was troubling her in the first place.

_ There’s patrol tomorrow night with Chat- Adrien. _ Marinette made eye contact with Adrien, who was likely having similar thoughts.  _ We usually start around eight, so it’d be only an hour into the party before I’d either have to leave or make an excuse to disappear for about an hour. _

“I don’t know,” she said aloud. “What do  _ you _ think, Adrien?” If he decided that it was worth the trouble to get away from the party, then she could do it too.

There was a mischievous glint in eye. “I mean, I’d have to ask my father, of course, but I’d love to go if  _ you’re  _ there, Marinette.”

Marinette couldn’t decide whether to be flustered (like she doubtless would have before she knew who he was) or to be suspicious. Because this cat knew something. She had seen that look in his eyes often enough to know.

But what did  _ he _ know that  _ she _ didn’t?

Maybe she could figure something out. Tomorrow. Or, why even wait? It was _ her _ patrol tonight. She could stop by and see if she could figure out the answer.

“I look forward to it.”

* * *

Adrien had no clue how the balloons managed to get untied from their anchor, or how a breeze could have made them drift out of his always-open window.

All he knew was that when he came out of the bathroom, there was a superheroine standing in his room with said balloons in hand, explaining how she had seen them floating away as she was patrolling by the mansion, and brought them back for him.

“So here you go.” Ladybug extended her balloon-wielding hand towards him.

“Thanks.” Adrien took it. “I think.”

She raised her eyebrows- well, the muscles under where her eyebrows were moved up. He couldn’t actually see her eyebrows under the mask. “You  _ think?” _

He shrugged. “I wouldn’t have cared much at all if no one was there to catch them.”

“Why not? I thought most people appreciated getting gifts for Valentine’s day.”

Adrien rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, I’d be the last. I’ve gotten enough gifts from fans to last me a lifetime. There’s only two girls that I’d like to get a gift from, but this… was just a childhood friend. Who didn’t seem too invested in asking me out.”

“Really?” Ladybug asked.

“Yeah, like I said, there’s only a couple of girls I’d like to get it from.” He subconsciously rubbed the back of his neck.  _ And both of them are you. _

Geez, this whole I-know-your-secret-identity-but-am-trying-to-not-let-you-know-that-I-know business was hard. Adrien didn’t know how long he could keep this up. He  _ had  _ to come clean by Friday.

“But I’m still going to her party,” he added, to keep the conversation going. He might not have planned on this, but he kinda just… loved talking to her. However he could.

“Oh? When’s that?”

Adrien had no doubt that Marinette knew. He wondered what  _ her _ plan for getting away was. He was still figuring that out himself. If only he could just  _ ask. _

“Tomorrow. I’m looking forward to seeing one of my friends there.” Singing praises about her when she thought he thought it wasn’t  _ to _ her couldn’t hurt, could it? After all, that’s exactly how he found out that Marinette was in love with him after all. “One of the two girls I was talking about.”

“Oh.”

He had expected her to say something more, but he could continue. “I recently found out that she likes me back.”  _ A week ago. Even though I should have realized about three years ago.  _ “But I’m still trying to get over this other girl-”  _ You  _ “-and having been falling pretty hard for her this past week. She’s just that amazing. You know?”

She smiled back. “I think I do.”

How was Adrien supposed to not sigh dreamily after she  _ smiled  _ at him? He tried his best not to, anyway.

“I probably better get going on patrol again. But hey, best of luck with that girl.”

Ladybug  _ winked _ and  _ blew him a kiss _ before she swung off to complete her patrol. Adrien was suddenly glad that he knew her identity already, otherwise he would have been feeling  _ very _ conflicted right now.

He sighed dreamily then, without having to worry about what she thought of it. She  _ really _ didn’t know how amazing she was, did she?

Adrien felt  _ way _ too lucky to be Chat Noir, if this girl loved him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will earnestly make an effort to at least get this wrapped up sometime this weekend.  
> This was mostly set-up for tomorrow’s, plus playing around with the double-blind reveal elements.  
> Anyhow, get ready to par-TAY!


	11. Party | Fête

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really, really liking this alternate POVs thing. I think I’m going to try to incorporate it into every single chapter for the rest of the fic. Except maybe with the last one, because the plan for THAT one doesn’t really allow it, especially if I’m trying to wrap this up by the end of today or tomorrow.
> 
> * * *
> 
> _LadyNoir_

Say what you want about Chloé, but she knew how to throw a party.

Not that Nino cared  _ much  _ about parties. Sure, the food was good, the music was (usually) good, and it was fun to hang out with friends and dance if you were in the mood. But most of the time, he’d rather just sit in a corner and chill.

This was one of those days. So he had just been chilling in one of the corners with Adrien, Alya, and Marinette, until Alya had to go to the bathroom and Adrien asked Marinette to dance. Which was perfectly fine by him.

It wasn’t until Alya got back from the bathroom that he noticed anything was wrong.

“Hey, where did Adrien and Marinette go?”

Nino smiled, knowing that she’d like the development. “Adrien asked Marinette to dance, so they’re out on the floor.”

“Can’t really complain about  _ that, _ now can I?” Alya’s grin turned into a frown as she looked out into the crowd that was dancing. “So… where are they? I can’t take a picture for their future wedding if they’re not  _ here.” _

Nino frowned too, standing up so that he could get a better look at the dance floor. It was a sizable party- larger than he had expected- but not so large that he shouldn’t be able to see them, even if they had gotten  _ off _ the dance floor.

“I dunno. Adrien said that he had permission to stay until the party ended, so he wouldn’t have gone home yet. And I doubt that Marinette would just leave without telling anyone.”

Alya’s lips curled into a smirk. “I don’t think they need our help getting together at  _ all. _ ”

Nino was pretty good at telling what his girlfriend was saying most of the time, but this went a bit over his head. “Huh?”

“If we can’t see them, and they didn’t leave, then they must have snuck off somewhere.  _ Together. _ I wouldn’t want to interrupt them.”

Oh.  _ Oh. _ If they were making out in a closet, he wouldn’t want to interrupt them either.

* * *

“You should feel grateful, milady.”

Ladybug looked at her partner, raising an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

Chat nodded. “I snuck away from a party, where I was dancing with my crush, to come meet you for patrol.”

She knew all that. “Well, I was doing the  _ exact same thing, _ so there’s nothing I have to be particularly thankful to  _ you _ for.”

“So we’re both missing out on a party, huh? You want to throw a little one of our own?”

Ladybug shook her head. “Maybe another time, kitty. I’d like to get back to my crush right now.”

“Then I think I’ll do the same. See you… Thursday? Unless an akuma comes along?”

She snorted. “Seems like Hawk Moth is saving up for the big day this year. I doubt that’ll happen. But yes, Thursday.”

Well, really, it would be just a few minutes, but he didn’t know that. And she’d also see him tomorrow. And Thursday.

And then on Friday, she would confess. Well, not a romantic one, at first. But that would follow. Because she wasn’t sure how long she could stand not being together with this boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t 100% predict how many chapters I’ll get out today, even if I’m trying to make them short. So here’s a confession: I hate Valentine’s Day in real life. I think that australet789 summarized it pretty well in [this post](https://australet789.tumblr.com/post/190691196555/australet789-the-only-reason-i-like-valentines): I’ll make my OTPs celebrate it, but I won’t myself.  
> But I go completely for Arizona Statehood Appreciation Day. I’m wearing my bolo tie (the official neckwear of Arizona) today, and for dinner I’m going to have Chimichangas (the unofficial state food of Arizona) and Lemonade (the official state drink of Arizona).


	12. Be Mine | Être Le Mien

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~Lowkey this chapter is the one that I've been looking forward to the most. And is the one that ultimately convinced me to actually _write_ this fic, even when I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and wasn't sure if I would or not.~~
> 
> * * *
> 
> _MariChat_

Alix couldn’t  _ wait _ to get out of the classroom for lunch. There were entirely too many couples in this class for her taste, and they were all being sickeningly sappy since the-day-that-shall-not-be-named was in just a couple of days.

Turns out that she was in a bit  _ too  _ much of a rush, because as she was hurrying along, she naturally tripped and fell, with her bag opening up and the contents of it scattering.

So she was still picking up her stuff while nearly everyone else escaped to the cafeteria for lunch.

Keyword:  _ nearly. _

“So, you two are together, hmm?” That was Alya. And it wasn’t hard for Alix to guess that she must’ve been interrogating Adrien and Marinette. She peeked over the desks to confirm, before going back down to continue getting her stuff.

“N-not yet.” Wait. That was  _ Adrien _ stuttering.

Alix knew that she tended to try to drown out all the love-related mania around Valentine’s Day, but she thought that Alya would’ve kept the girls up-to-date on any and all new developments with Adrienette. You know, like she  _ had _ done for the past three-and-a-half years.

“Yeah, we told you  _ Sunday _ that we agreed it would be better if we waited a bit before we date.”

Alix looked over the desks again just to confirm that it  _ was _ Marinette who was speaking. Had she  _ finally _ confessed after all this time and didn’t care to inform them? And apparently Adrien wasn’t opposed to it, just… not quite ready to date yet?

“Then care to explain why you two both disappeared at the party last night and showed back up around the same time?”

Wait. Alix made sure to steer clear of the party, but it sounded like they had snuck off and made out, or at least Alya thought so. She shook her head. She was  _ very _ baffled by this conversation.

Alix had everything picked up already, and  _ could _ leave, but she didn’t want to either get in the middle of their conversation or stop listening to it. So she just sat, remaining out of their view.

“Alya, if you think we snuck off to make out, you’re wrong.”

“So you’re not denying that you two were together, huh?”

After a couple of seconds of silence, Alix peeked again. Marinette and Adrien were both blushing slightly, but neither of them seemed to be denying it.

“Can you let us go eat lunch now, Alya?” Adrien finally asked.

“Fine,” Alya sighed. “But if you two  _ don’t  _ tell me what you  _ did _ do together, I won’t be able to know for  _ sure _ that you  _ didn’t _ make out.”

The three of them left the room, leaving Alix free to escape to sit with Rose and Juleka. Nathaniel was working on his comic with Marc today, and of course Marinette, Alya, and Mylène were with their boyfriends- or not-quite-boyfriend in Marinette’s case, though it was more like she, Alya, Nino, and Adrien just all sat together. Sure, Rose gushed about romance a little  _ too _ much for Alix’s taste, but Juleka’s presence seemed to counteract it.

“Hey, guys,” Alix greeted as she sat down. “Say, um… did  _ you two  _ know that Marinette confessed to Adrien?”

“Yeah,” Juleka mumbled.

“Of course!” Rose said, obviously delighted that Alix had actually purposefully brought up the topic. “Marinette told all the girls before school on Monday, before Chloé announced her party, remember?”

Alix  _ did _ remember that they got together. “Oh. I was…” Somehow,  _ thinking about how I could prank Kim back for stealing my skates for an entire weekend _ didn’t seem like the best answer. “… _ distracted.” _

Yeah, that would cover it.

Now, maybe she could steal Kim’s swimming goggles. That seemed like a fair trade-off, right?

* * *

Marinette let Adrien and Alya get a bit ahead of her on the way to their table.

This was beginning to drive her mad. She didn’t know  _ how _ long she could keep this up. When Alya had asked if they were together, she had wanted so badly to say yes, grab Adrien’s face and pull him down to kiss her right then and there. Quite romantic for a fourth kiss, if she didn’t say so herself.

But she hadn’t. And Marinette knew that it was only a couple of days until Valentine’s Day, but… just how much easier would it be to tell him  _ now? _ Aside from avoiding the hassle of him being a model and how difficult it would be to get him alone to tell him everything.

But she was Ladybug. She was a planner. So she started to plan…

Tonight was Chat’s patrol, right?

* * *

Chat couldn’t  _ wait  _ until Friday.

Even more than when he first came up with his plan. Even more than when she visited him Monday night. Even more than when they were dancing together at Chloé’s party last night.

Each moment that it approached just increased his anticipation- and his nerves. He would have  _ loved  _ it if he were able to say that they  _ were _ together earlier. The idea of dating Marinette was almost too good to be true.

“Chat!” Speak of the devil… well, Marinette wasn’t the devil. She was just about as far from  _ being _ the devil as a human being could  _ get. _ But it’s the expression.

Chat stopped on her chimney. “Yes, Princess?”

He could’ve sworn he saw her blush slightly. “I, uh… was wondering if you’d like to talk. It’s been nice the past couple of times, and uh…”

“Sure,” he said, saving her from her words. “What is it this time?”

“Could we go inside first?” she asked.

“Why?”

Marinette exhaled, her breath coming out in a white cloud of water vapor. “Because it’s cold outside.”

Chat was still skeptical.

“And there’s macarons inside.”

No need to tell him twice. He jumped down from the chimney and over to where she was already climbing back into her bedroom. He followed her, closing the door behind him.

By the time he was off of her bed, she had picked up a plate of macarons and held it out to him.

“Macarons. As promised.”

He gladly took one and plopped it in his mouth as Marinette set the plate back on her desk. Mmmm… it was passion fruit, his favorite. Wait. Why was she giving passion fruit macarons to  _ Chat? _ It wasn’t that common of a favorite flavor, unless… had she somehow figured out his identity?

“I also wanted to talk inside so that we could have some privacy,  _ Adrien.” _

Well, that answered his question. Wait. She… Marinette… “You  _ know?” _

Marinette nodded. “What?  _ Your Lady  _ is smart enough to figure it out, isn’t she?”

“I know,” he breathed. Now that he was starting to realize that  _ she _ knew who  _ he _ was (which was considerably less of a shock than initially finding out her identity), Chat couldn’t help the smile that crept onto his face.

It was her turn to look incredulous. “Wait. Do you mean that you knew I was smart enough to figure it out, or that you knew I was Ladybug?”

“Both. Though I didn’t  _ know _ you had figured it out.”

After a moment, she started laughing. “We’re both idiots, aren’t we?”

“Do you mean the part where we friendzoned each other because we were in love with each other or the part where we both realized who the other was without realizing they knew?”

“Both. When did  _ you  _ figure it out? For me, it was after we talked the second time on Saturday and you said something that only me and Adrien knew.”

Chat laughed at that. “Saturday for me, too. Basically your whole speech gave it away.”

Marinette chuckled, going into a sigh, and they fell into an awkward silence.

“So…” Chat tentatively said. “We both know each other’s feelings- for both sides of the mask. What does that make us now?”

“Well,” Marinette said thoughtfully. “We still haven’t made anything official yet. So, what do  _ you _ want to be?”

Chat bit his bottom lip. “Would… would you be mine?” Wait. That sounded possessive. “My girlfriend! Would you be my girlfriend?”

Marinette smiled. “I would be  _ yours, _ if you would be  _ mine. _ But I’ll settle for being your girlfriend if you’ll be my boyfriend.”

He broke out into a grin. “Yes! Yes yes yes yes yes YES!”

Chat scooped her into a hug and picked her up, holding her so that her feet weren’t even touching the ground. Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in, kissing him. It was almost instinctive to kiss her back.

She pulled back. “Not bad for a fourth kiss, if I don’t say so myself.”

Chat didn’t reply, just going back in for their fifth kiss.

He didn’t know how strongly  _ she _ felt about  _ him, _ but Chat- Adrien, both sides of him- was most certainly  _ hers. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that kissing and implied making out is on the higher end of general audiences… but I don’t think that it’s TOO much. That said, if I had to put a rating for each chapter, this one would be teen and up.  
> And- YAY!- this one’s done. The other two are probably going to be shorter than this, so I stand a fair chance at finishing this today. Even if I don’t I’m happy with whether this is the last chapter I post today, or if it’s the next one, or if I _do_ finish. Because all of these chapters have a good enough of an ending for me.


	13. Sweethearts | Chéri

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone order DJWifi?
> 
> * * *
> 
> _LadyNoir/ Adrienette_

Alya rubbed her eyes. “Nino, are you seeing what  _ I’m  _ seeing?”

“If it has something to do with Marinette being at school peculiarly early, then yes, I am.”

Alya shot her boyfriend a look. “If you haven’t noticed, she’s been doing that all week. And I think you know what I’m talking about.”

Nino scratched the back of his head. “Well, I don’t know  _ what _ happened any better than you. If that’s what you’re looking for.”

Alya didn’t know if it  _ was  _ possible for her to get any more startled than seeing Adrien and Marinette wrapped in each other’s arms, talking intimately to one another, but then Marinette went on her tiptoes and gave Adrien a peck on the lips, proving that wrong. _ Then, _ Adrien apparently wasn’t satisfied with that, leaned in for another kiss, and then another, and then-

Well, you get the image.

Looking away, Alya changed her attention to Nino. “So, it looks like they’re together now.”

He was also looking pointedly away. “They can’t deny that now.”

“Should we interrupt them?” she asked.

“Um-”

They both spared a glance. It seemed that their friends had finished their impromptu makeout session, and had pulled away from each other a bit. Though they were still holding hands.

“It looks safe now.”

“Good,” Alya said. “Because I have some  _ questions. _ ”

She and Nino walked up towards them, catching a bit of their conversation.

“-that explains Oblivio! No wonder we-” Marinette cut off whatever she was saying as Alya and Nino got close. “Oh, hey guys! What’s up?”

Alya shrugged. “Not much new between me and Nino. Unless he’s planning on proposing  _ officially _ tonight, we still have the relationship status of dating and engaged-to-be-engaged. What  _ I  _ was wondering was what happened between you two. Because you made no attempt to hide that PDA right there.”

Marinette slapped a hand to her forehead. “ _ That’s  _ what I forgot to do last night.”

Alya took a deep breath. “Okay. First things first. I know that yesterday you two said you weren’t together. But, judging by what just happened, am I safe to assume that’s no longer true?”

Adrien grinned brightly. “No need to assume.”

Marinette blushed a bright red. Apparently she still wasn’t immune to Adrien’s charms entirely. “Yeah, we met last night and talked and figured things out. I  _ meant  _ to call and tell you afterwards, but it must’ve slipped my mind.”

Alya sighed. “Okay. That’s fine for now, with it being Valentine’s weekend and all. But Marinette? Monday- I expect to hear  _ all  _ the deets. Okay?”

Marinette nodded. “Fine.”

The bell rang. Alya couldn’t wait until Monday. But first- she had to focus on getting ready for her date tonight with Nino.

* * *

Nino was nervous. He knew that he shouldn’t have to be, but he was, regardless. It was  _ supremely unlikely _ that Alya would break up with him.

Right?

Nino took a deep breath in and then exhaled. She would  _ love _ this. Hopefully.

“I’m still curious as to why we’re just walking up the stairs of this building,” Alya mused.

Nino turned around. “Sorry, but they only have stairs. Maybe you should take off your heels.”

Alya sighed in relief as she slipped them off her feet. Then she held them out for Nino to carry. “Here, Shelly.”

No matter  _ how _ many times Nino heard that nickname, he would probably  _ never _ grow to like it. “Remind me why I fell in love with you again?”

Alya smirked. “Because I’m amazing.”

He sighed. “Well, we’re almost there, Rena.”

“Good. Because all these stairs are exhausting. When I told you I wanted you to do something that would make my heart beat, I didn’t mean exercise.”

Nino perked up when he saw the door to the roof appear. “Here we go.”

He rushed up and opened the door for her, and she gasped. “How’d you do this, Nino?”

Good she liked it. He’d been worried that the stairs would have been a bit too much of a deal-breaker, and that she’d-

“Where’d I put my phone?” Alya mumbled, looking through the purse she had brought with her.

What did she need her phone for? It wasn’t like there was  _ that _ spectacular of a view, or he had set up anything fancy that would make her want to take a picture of it.

She snapped a photo and showed it to him. “How’d you get this to happen?”

Nino looked at the picture, and then over at the other roof that had its subjects.

Ladybug and Chat Noir were kissing on the roof next door. Naturally.

“Sorry, Alya, but that wasn’t me.  _ I _ arranged to secure our favorite roof as Rena and Carapace for our date.”

Alya blinked and then looked around. She grinned. “I didn’t even realize. Nino- you’re too sweet, you know that?”

Nino blushed. “Um, not exactly? Uh… I’m glad that it worked out for you to see LB and Chat Noir, though. Since you liked it so much.”

“As much as I’m  _ ecstatic _ that both of my ships are now sailing, tonight is about  _ us. _ Okay?”

He smiled. “Alright. Now, should we get this date started, or are we going to gawk at LadyNoir happening some more?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will NEVER get tired of Alya freaking out over Adrienette and LadyNoir happening simultaneously.  
> The idea is that Alya and Nino do their Valentine’s date the day before to avoid as much madness as there is on Valentine’s day itself. That was supposed to come up in the chapter, but it didn’t, so oh well.  
> And with that, I already finished the last chapter, so enjoy the fact that I cranked out four chapters in one day. I don’t really like saying that there’s a whole lot that I LOVE, but this show is certainly one of them, so appreciate the fic.


	14. Valentine's Day | Saint Valentin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! I hope you enjoy!
> 
> * * *
> 
> _LadyNoir/ Adrienette_

“‘Mawwage.’”

Marinette groaned, putting her head in her hands.

“‘Mawwage is what bwings us togewah today.’”

“Do you  _ have _ to do this?” she complained.

“‘Mawwage, that bwessed awwangement, that dweam wiffin a dweam.’”

She looked up with a pained expression on her face. “ _ Why are you doing this?” _

“‘And wuv. Twoo wuv.’”

“Stop now, Adrien, or I might seriously consider breaking up with you,” Marinette threatened.

Adrien’s jaw dropped. “You wouldn’t.”

She pouted. “You’re right. I wouldn’t. But I had to get you to stop  _ somehow. _ ”

“I had to prove myself,” he muttered.

“I wasn’t  _ seriously  _ doubting your ability to quote every line in  _ the Princess Bride _ , but even if I was, you’d proven your point around the time you got around to ‘Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.’”

Adrien grinned. “I  _ knew _ that you knew the lines too!”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Well,  _ duh. _ That movie is the best. But I only know the more quotable lines.”

“You also weren’t homeschooled until you were thirteen.”

“You’re right. I apologize that my parents decided that it was good for me to  _ socialize _ from an early age.

He sighed. “You’re missing the point, Princess. We need to get you to the point that you  _ can _ quote the entire movie by heart.”

She raised an eyebrow, obviously wary of his proposition. “I don’t know if I want that,” she said. “But I’m always up for watching a good movie, and that one is  _ excellent. _ ”

“Then, do you want to watch it tonight?” Adrien asked.

“Your place or mine? You have that giant TV screen.”

“Your room is cozier,” he retorted.

Marinette shrugged. “True, but it’s my night for patrol. Ladybug can get it done quickly, and then drop Marinette off in your room for movie night.”

He couldn’t argue logic like that. “Then it’s a date.”

Adrien loved how he could still make her blush like that. He leaned in for a kiss, and their lips were about to meet-

“LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR! IF YOU LOVE PARIS SO MUCH, COME GIVE ME YOUR MIRACULOUSES TO STOP ME, OR I WILL BREAK YOUR HEARTS LIKE MINE HAS BEEN BROKEN!”

Adrien sighed, pulling away from Marinette. “You know, I think we need to go take care of our annual Valentine’s day tradition.”

Marinette tilted her head. “We started dating two days ago. What tradition?”

“Heartbroken akuma.”

She laughed at that. “You’re right. Do you see anyone else around?”

Adrien looked around the locker room. One benefit to staying afterschool in the locker room, especially on Friday,  _ especially _ on Valentine’s Day, was that other students didn’t. “Nope. We’re good to just transform here. Plagg, claws out.”

“Tikki, spots on.”

Before letting her go, Chat stole a kiss from Ladybug, who playfully pushed him away. “Come on, kitty. We need to go take care of this akuma.”

He sighed. “I guess.”

“I’m sure that  _ someday _ we’ll defeat Hawk Moth and finally get a Valentine’s Day to ourselves. But what’ll we do  _ until  _ then?”

Chat grabbed Ladybug’s hand. “Same thing we always do, bugaboo. Stick together, side by side.

“Just you and me against the world.”

The End

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I write mostly fluffy love square stuff if you want to check out the rest of my works.
> 
> I have a [FFN account](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/12475035/) that I'm slowly cross-posting and I mess around sometimes on Tumblr at [potatoe-knight](https://potatoe-knight.tumblr.com/) and [too-much-camembert](https://too-much-camembert.tumblr.com/).


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